It is now obvious that the University of Virginia which is in one of the only states that require higher education institutions to have a Threat Assessment Team made terrible mistakes handling complaints and information they knew about this shooter before this tragedy.
Virginia became the first state to mandate threat assessment teams in any educational setting after the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, which killed 32 people.
This UVA Shooter made numerous attempts to purchase weapons and had an arrest and conviction for a weapon concealed carry charge. In addition, he had an arrest for reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
There was an allegation that he possessed a gun which was investigated by the University while they were investigating a hazing complaint regarding him. They discovered the gun charge and should have referred the shooter to a student judicial council, but it never happened. It should be noted that the campus police were part of the multidisciplinary Threat Assessment Team.
This was a terrible failure which is an example of the importance of these Threat Assessment Teams and more importantly that the process must run effectively. Let’s hope that this tragedy serves as a reminder for all institutions to review their Threat Assessment Process.